Community-friendly shopping centre, IPC Shopping Centre was recently announced as the only Malaysian Gold Winner for the Asia Pacific Shopping Centre Awards 2018. Organised by the International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC), the award recognises APACs most forward-thinking shopping centres for world-class marketing efforts.

Acknowledged for its quirky, first-of-its-kind yet highly-functional “Mood Menu” (within the IPC Shopping Centre mobile application), the shopping centre was recognized as the best entry for the Emerging Digital Technology category. IPC Shopping Centre was awarded ahead of over 200 entries from the best performing centres across the region.

The IPC Shopping Centre mobile app is the first shopping centre app in the world that is developed in collaboration with music streaming giant, Spotify, to provide shoppers with suggestions on places to dine or drink at IPC through its ground-breaking food and mood-matching tool. The function analyses users' recent Spotify playback history to track their current mood. The moods are then matched with suitable flavours from the diverse range of dining delights at IPC, via the proprietary Mood Menu algorithm, which is based on neuroscience insights.

“We are extremely pleased to have been awarded Malaysia's only Gold for the ICSC Awards. The awards showcase the best Asia Pacific malls with the world-class practices. At IPC Shopping Centre, it is in our DNA to make every visit to our centre a holistic one. Not only did we want our visitors to enjoy themselves, we also wanted to solve the everyday Malaysian dilemma of where to eat”, says Andrew Yeoh, Head of Marketing – Shopping Centre, IKEA Southeast Asia.

He continued, “Rather than rest on our laurels, we are continuously looking at ways to innovate and enhance our brand experience for our visitors as well as retailers to remain ahead in this extremely competitive retail market. The best is yet to come.”

Upon receiving this Gold award, IPC Shopping Centre now qualifies for the VIVA (Vision, Innovation, Value & Achievement) Global Best-of-the-Best Awards, competing against the best shopping centre marketing campaigns globally. Winners will be announced at a gala ceremony in Las Vegas in May 2019.

In addition, “The Mood Menu” also garnered another Gold Award for Best Mobile Marketing in the PMAA 2018 Dragons of Malaysia awards, which recognises the country's best result-driven marketing campaigns. This further establishes IPC Shopping Centre as a leader in providing exceptional digitally driven customer experiences for its visitors and shoppers alike.